In a previous discussion, I talk about the Next Gen Advisor Woes & Opportunities and the things that you have to consider when you're identifying either a) who your next gen is going to be, or b) if you are the next gen, making sure that the grooming process is supporting you appropriately so that you actually can hit the ground running and can grow the practice once the advisor ahead of you has departed. Now the challenge that goes beyond that, and that also then gets overlaid with the discussion on managing employees and different age ranges and so on, is the fact that there is a bigger gap in terms of core philosophies of what people believe and what they hold dear than has ever historically been recorded. So if you're looking at Baby Boomers, say age 60 and above, and you're looking at Gen Z, age 30 and below, the difference in how they think and see the world is more dramatic than it's ever been before. I did discuss some of this on the previous Trending Report from more of a market standpoint.
Today, I want to talk to you more at the managerial level, because it is a big issue that is not going away, and it can make those age gaps very difficult to deal with in the workspace. I hate this subject, by the way. I just hate it, because people are people, and every individual is different, and every circumstance is different. So these are huge generalities, but there's no doubt that we've had frustrations amongst age groups; whether it's politically, socially, how we interact with technology, and right on down the line. For the most part, it can create a jovial scenario, something you can joke about, but at its core it can create some problems. There's an article from Axios with some data that you might want to go check out called 'Jarring generation gap: America is divided on values, economics, politics.' And why this matters is, if you're running a successful organization, if you're trying to sell a product or a service, you have to understand these nuances. That's the nature of the discussion here. Some of the different charts in the article comparing Baby Boomers vs. Generation Z show:
- Patriotism: 76% of Baby Boomers believe it is important, while 32% of Gen Z believes it is important.
- Belief in God or Religion: 65% of Baby Boomers believe it is important, while 26% of Gen Z believes it is important.
- Having Children: Over half of Baby Boomers think it is important, while less than a quarter of Gen Z thinks it is important.
- Belief that America is the Best Place to Live: Two thirds of Baby Boomers agree with the statement, while only one third of Gen Z agrees.
- Capitalism vs. Socialism: This is the one that probably scares me more than anything else: capitalism vs. socialism. The majority of older people, by a significant margin, believe that capitalism is a positive thing and it's the way to go. That reverses at the younger ages. So if we're looking under the age of 30, the highest ranking are saying they view socialism positively, whereas older people obviously do not. And then the older generations view capitalism positively, and a smaller percentage (by a dramatic amount) of the younger generation views capitalism positively.
And then when you sum it all up at the end, there is a ranking that's done by the World Happiness Report every year. They track kind of the overall essence of the globe and what parts of the world people are doing well and what parts of the world people are not doing well. Of people over the age of 60, the United States ranks as the 10th happiest country. So of the older people, they believe that they are living in the right place in the United States compared to other populations. Ages 30 and below, given the same ranking opportunities, rank the United States number 62 in terms of happiness across the globe. And if you were to look at the countries that are above the United States ranking on age 60 and above, they're probably the countries you would expect to see there. The countries for the younger generation ranking above the United States have no business ranking higher the United States. They're countries that if you actually move there, you would be miserable. So it is a very different lens, a different perspective that people are seeing things in.
Now, why am I dwelling on this? If you're in your 50s and older, like I am, I want you to believe that there is truly a different view of the world by your younger employees. Doesn't mean it's right, doesn't mean it's wrong. Doesn't mean you have to argue about it. Doesn't mean you have to bring politics or religion into your business. But what it does mean is you have to understand, as a manager, as a leader, that people are not seeing the world, seeing the opportunities, seeing the employment experience, the same way you do. Now, you can decide what you want to do with that. You can carve off a very specific niche, and people have to fit into that. Or you can take a very wide berth and just realize you're going to have a lot of discrepancy, and that can lead to some interesting situations in the building. Or you can find some kind of a happy mixture in the middle. I think transparency is important. I think people have to understand what you're trying to accomplish, why you're trying to accomplish it, and how you're going about doing so, and you need to share those plans openly. That is the one thing I will tell you that will adhere you, in my humble opinion, to the younger generations quicker than anything, is simply being transparent and honest with what it is you're trying to accomplish. Whether they agree or disagree, the fact that you are putting it out there for them will oftentimes get the conversation rolling and get people in agreement. So that's kind of the way we go about it here at USA Financial, but you need to determine what's the best formula for you.
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